What do the 49ers Week 1 inactives tell us?

The San Francisco 49ers first regular season game brought with it the first set of seven inactive players of the season. The 49ers have a 53-man roster, but have to cut down to 46 players on game day. Some inactives are injuries, some are obvious choices, but we also get some surprises.

The 49ers inactives on Sunday were the following:

WR Victor Bolden Jr.
OT John Theus
OG Laken Tomlinson
DE Aaron Lynch
LB Pita Taumoepenu
CB Ahkello Witherspoon
FS Jimmie Ward

Aaron Lynch and Jimmie Ward were inactive with injuries. Lynch was limited all week with a back injury, while Ward was limited with his hamstring injury. Lynch is behind Elvis Dumervil on the edge rusher depth chart, so it’s still possible he is inactive at times this season. We’ll find out once he is back 100 percent healthy.

Laken Tomlinson is a recent addition to the 49ers, added via trade on August 31. He is competing for the left guard role, and given how bad Zane Beadles was on Sunday, Tomlinson should move into the starting lineup sooner rather than later.

John Theus was competing with Garry Gilliam for the swing tackle role, and for the time being, it appears Gilliam has claimed it. The line stayed healthy in Week 1, so we did not see Gilliam play an offensive snap.

The remaining three spots went to rookies. Victor Bolden has been competing for a spot as a returner, but Trent Taylor handled much of those duties in Week 1. Raheem Mostert can handle kick return duties as well, so it could be a while before we see Bolden playing.

The 49ers spent a third round pick on Ahkello Witherspoon and a sixth round pick on Pita Taumoepenu.